We need specific teaching to be Spanish teachers

19 February, 2017

I decided to do this course because I was interested in completing my training as a teacher of a foreign language. In the last few years it has been the norm to teach foreign languages using native teachers, a practice that I partly agree with.

It seemed interesting that native speakers always teach their L1, especially when they have some type of training in order to do so. With regards to this I want to say that, although for one part they are the ideal people to teacher their own language, as those that have studied it as L2 will always have some doubts and uncertainty about said language; I do not consider that all the native speakers are capable of transmitting correctly their L1 to their foreign students.

I have spent enough time teaching languages, and when I had the need to teach Spanish for a brief period of time, despite being familiar with the use of grammatical terms even in other languages, I will find certain difficulties explaining to the students at the time why they have to use this or that verb tense or preposition. Therefore I decided to enhance my training as a language teacher and do this course.

Thanks to it I have learnt what problems the ELE students face, what are the difficulties and confusions that Castilian can generate and where to look to solve those doubts. Furthermore I have learnt of theories and interesting sources of material that I can also adapt and apply in the teaching of other languages, as well as distinct teaching theories that I have found very useful when organising my classes.